Return to Camp
by storiesfortheeasilyamused
Summary: It's a new year at Camp Half-Blood, and there's a new prophecy...When five campers embark on a quest in the Labyrinth, their lives are changed forever. Who will make it out?
1. Chapter 1

**I dedicate this chapter to Straberrie Blondie, because without her, I wouldn't be sitting here typing this.**

**Love you girl!**

A tall, willowy woman strode into the cavernous room quickly and surely. Her ashy blonde curls were pinned up into a neat bun, and her body was draped in a flowing white dress that swished as she walked. She surveyed the room as she moved gracefully amongst the regal thrones. All of them were different, and yet they all exuded the same frightening power. But she was entirely used to this power, and it did not intimidate her in the least.

"Athena," a voice boomed to her right.

"Father," she answered formally, watching the man who had just entered to room. He wore a simple charcoal suit and neat black tie, giving off the appearance of a banker or a businessman. His dark brown beard was trimmed carefully, and his hair neatly combed. The only thing that set him apart from an average person was the lightning bolt he gripped in his left hand. It was shooting out sparks and emitting a bright blue light.

"I am sure you are wondering why I summoned you here," the man said as he strode over to the biggest and most intimidating thrown of them all, placing the bolt in the arm of the chair and then carefully sitting down in the golden seat.

Athena snorted quietly. "Another war you'd like me to win for you perhaps?"

The man practically crackled with electric energy, his bright blue eyes looking angry enough to smote the woman on the spot. "You will watch your tone."

Athena, although quite sure she was right, replied, "My apologies, Zeus." Then she proceeded to bow her head and kneel down in front of him.

He sighed. "You may stand. I am sorry as well, I know I've been asking a lot of you lately. The monsters that were destroyed in that last war are all starting to reform again. I guess we all were getting used to the break." Athena nodded sympathetically. It couldn't be easy to be the king of the gods. Zeus continued, "And yes, there is a minor war I would like you to break up. I tried to get ahold of Ares but the gods only know what he's up to. Actually, even we don't know. Anyway, it's just a small spat between Egypt and Israel. The Israelis have been camping out in the sphinxes territory, and you know sphinxes. They're starting to attack and it's becoming quite a problem for everyone. So if you could just pop down there and-"

Suddenly, another man burst into the throne room. His lean physique and blue track suit made him look like your stereotypical marathon junkie. He had a shocked look on his face and held a compact silver phone up to his ear even as he sprinted up to Zeus's throne. He kneeled hurriedly, still listening keenly to the person on the other line and nodding profusely.

"Yes. Yes, I'm already here. He's actually sitting right in front of me. Yes. I'll tell him immediately. What? Oh, alright. Thank you." He pulled the cell phone away from his ear and snapped it shut quickly, leaping to his feet. "My Lord, I have groundbreaking news. I didn't expect this at all; I don't think anyone did. What this will do to all the young demigods I can't even imagine-"

"Hermes!" Zeus exclaimed, sounding frustrated. "Will you PLEASE just tell us what's going on?"

"Yes of course, sir, sorry, sir. The news is just so shocking."

Zeus glared at him, and Hermes shifted uncomfortably.

"Well? Care to share it with us?" he asked grouchily. Athena held her breath in anticipation.

Hermes's face was grave. "There's a new prophecy. The oracle at camp revealed it to Chiron this morning. I expect you'll want to hear it?"

The three Olympians gazed at each other sorrowfully. Zeus recovered capability of speech first.

"The camp is finally getting back on its feet. We cannot have that all crumble due to another dreadful prophecy. They cannot assign a quest. No one may volunteer or be sent out until the Oracle directly bestows the quest upon a camper. We will try to postpone this grave foretelling for as long as we can. It is the only way."

Athena nodded. "For once, I agree with my father. This is too soon. The demigods need to stay safe and continue training inside the boundaries of camp for now. It is the best decision given the circumstances."

Hermes nodded slowly. The three powerful beings bowed their heads silently, pondering the misery and tragedy of prophecies, and praying that this one, just this once, would disappear.

Miles away from the Olympian throne room, a girl named Brooke Lyre was about to be engulfed in flames.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is dedicated to my good buddy Molly:)**

**I'm sure you're going to absolutely love reading this. Too much, in fact. **

**Enjoy!**

"Brooke!" a girl cried in a shrill voice, her curly blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. "Be careful!"

Brooke, who was clinging to the climbing wall for dear life, screamed back, "Abby! Shut up! I'm trying, okay?"

She was trying, but the outlook wasn't looking so good. Her short, shiny blonde hair was sticking to her sweaty face as she desperately clung to the rock by her fingertips. If she didn't get herself back onto the wall soon, she was going to tumble down into the boiling lava below. Not that I would be terribly disappointed about that.

Her face scrunched up, and with a huge heave of effort, she yanked herself back onto the top of the wall. Abby grinned and gave her a thumbs up. Brooke smiled in a self-satisfied way, smoothed her hair, and gave a sigh of relief. She'd come two inches from falling to her doom, and her little pink Nikes weren't even singed. Just my freaking luck.

"Damn," a voice said to my left. I looked over. My friend Charlotte was standing there with her arms crossed, frowning at Brooke, who was now scampering down the wall with ease. "That was a let down."

I made a face and nodded in agreement. We both wordlessly watched another display of Brooke's I-Am-So-Amazing show. Other campers were congratulating her on her stellar performance. Some of the young newbies were staring at her with wide, awe-filled eyes. She nodded earnestly to everyone, describing how horror-filled her experience had been, and how she didn't think even the strongest of the Hephaestus kids could have pulled it off, yet here she, a small Apollo girl, had barely broken a sweat. "It was a miracle," she said. "Like, seriously, I don't think anyone else at this camp would disagree with me when I say how, like, difficult the situation was and how much, like, inner strength I had to gather to do that."

She made me sick.

Judging from Charlotte's expression, I wasn't the only one feeling some serious nausea.

Then, a blonde guy strolled up to us. He rested his arm on Charlotte's shoulder and surveyed the girls beneath the rock wall. "Hey guys. What's up with them?" he asked, nodding toward the girls.

I sighed. "Just Brooke engaging in another display of self-promotion."

Keith raised his eyebrows at me. "Wow Cora, the way you say that makes me think you don't like her! What'd poor, innocent, perfect Brooke ever do to you?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh no, please don't misinterpret my tone. She's my best friend ever."

"I know. You guys love each other so much. It's adorable."

"What's adorable?" a girl, who was suddenly standing behind me, asked. I jumped a little.

"You," Keith said, his green eyes looking completely serious. He could hide emotion better than the best of them.

Cara just shook her head at him. "I saw Brooke and Abby over there. Ick."

Charlotte grimaced. "I know, right? They should live in a well. That'd be good for them."

"What would them living in a well accomplish?" Cara questioned, brushing her dark hair out of her face.

"Nothing. But I want them to live in a well."

"We all want things, Charlotte," Keith said.

Cara and I burst into laughter. Charlotte made a face at him, but she was smiling. "Oh shut up, Keith," she said. He pouted, pretending to be hurt.

Suddenly, a loud conch horn sounded.

I looked at my three best friends. "Shall we?" I said, using my best sophisticated voice, which actually wasn't good at all. But it'd have to do.

They nodded enthusiastically, and the four of us ambled up the well-worn path to the dining pavilion.

When we reached the white, shimmering, marble structure, I bade farewell to them and we all went to join our families.

I walked over to a group of kids. My older sister Annabeth was leading the line, as per usual. She smiled at me as I took my place in line.

Most of the kids in our cabin have long, thick, curly blonde hair, but a few of us odd ones out have chocolate brown hair. I guess the hair color gene gets messed up sometimes. However, we do all have the same eye color- a dark, stormy gray, which gives off an intimidating and intense vibe. Fitting, since our mother is the goddess of war.

I glanced around, looking for my friends. I saw Cara standing with her cabin. They all have the same dark hair and dark eyes. Surprisingly, they're actually pretty cool, normal kids. Being children of Hades, you'd expect them to be into skulls and black and death. But they're not like that. They're all a lot like Cara- funny, sarcastic, and just awesome in general. Nico DiAngelo, her older brother, was leading the line. He was more withdrawn than the rest of them, but he still was a really nice guy once you got to know him.

Keith and Charlotte were both in the group two lines over from me. Yes, that's right- they're siblings. In theory it's a disaster waiting to happen, but they actually get along stupendously. How else could they be best friends with Cara and I? The four of us are practically inseparable.

Supporting my example perfectly, the two of them appeared to be arguing. Charlotte looked mad and Keith looked as though he knew she was fighting a losing battle. Of course, anyone arguing with Keith is fighting a losing battle. Seriously. He always can support his case better than most lawyers.

Finally, we all walked into the pavilion and sat at our tables. Today's dish was barbecue, which used lean, nymph-cut meat, along with salad and some potato chips.

I grabbed some food and headed back to my seat, but not before stopping by the golden brazier and scraping some delicious ribs into the smoldering flame. As I did so, I murmured, "Athena." I caught a whiff of the smoke as it spiraled up into the gorgeous blue sky. It smelled of olives and the ocean breeze and fresh air and so many other wonderful, indescribable things.

After much clanking of silverware against plate and slurping of drink and excited chatter, we all finished our meals. Chiron, the camp director, pounded his hoof against one of the picnic tables.

"If everyone will please head to the forest, it is now time for our game of capture the flag, Athena versus Ares." There was much clapping and wooping as everyone scrambled to their feet and headed for the trees. I couldn't see any of my friends anywhere, so I was about to go on without them when I caught sight of a familiar blonde head in front of me.

"Keith!" I exclaimed, grabbing his arm.

He turned and grinned at me. "You ready to kick some butt?"

I smiled. "Hell yes."

Then the two of us joined the flood of people heading for the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

**I dedicate this chapter to my favorite band, Coldplay**

**Thank you for the inspirational lyrics, and thank you for helping me through things when life gets rough. :)**

**Okay, and now for the story. Enjoy and review! xD**

"Ready, campers? Get set...go!" Chiron shouted, and we all surged forward into the forest. Dusk was falling, and the sky was now a washed out shade of blue, with pink and orange streaked across it like paint across a canvas. Soon night would close over us, and if the game hadn't ended by then, that was when things would get really interesting.

I jogged easily in the middle of the pack of campers towards our base, which was a large clearing at the heart of the woods. This would give us a clear advantage in hand-to-hand combat, because it meant no one would be able to sneak up on us and snatch our flag. Athena always has a plan.

Thankfully, we had lots of cabins as our alliances this round. I think they all finally figured out that WisdomStrength. Luckily for me, these allies included a lot of my friends' cabins. On top of that, the more soldiers we had, the more watertight our plan would be, and the better our chances of winning. Ares was so going down.

Once we reached the clearing, everyone crowded around Annabeth, who was undisputedly our team captain. Her stormy gray eyes, so similar to mine and to the rest of our siblings', looked fierce and slightly wild.

"Alright guys. You know the plan- we leave multiple guards here in the clearing to guard the flag, while the rest of us split up into four different units and from there several subunits to search each section of the wood for the red team campers, as marked on the map I gave you all yesterday. Don't back down. Take risks. Fight. Give it one hundred and ten percent. We cannot lose this. I'm counting on you. On every single one of you." She jammed her blue-plumed helmet down onto her head, pulled out her shining bronze knife, stuck it in the air, and yelled, "For Athena!"

"FOR ATHENA!" everyone echoed. Then we began assembling into our various groups. I scanned the crowd for my friends.

Suddenly, someone poked me in the side. I let out a yelp and whirled around to see...Cara. She grinned at me, her brown eyes looking mischievous. "Ready for battle?"

"Of course. What section of the woods to we have?" I questioned.

She pulled a creased piece of paper out of her jeans pocket and scanned it. "Section 3, subsection 5. Which puts us..."

"In the middle of some random trees."

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"So we're going to miss all of the action?"

She made a face. "Seriously? That's so stupid! It's not like the four of us aren't good fighters."

I shook my head. "I know. Let's just go find the others."

Ten minutes later, we had located Charlotte and Keith in the cluster of troops, and the four of us were now heading for our section.

"This is so unfair!" Keith complained with a dramatic sigh. "I want to fight!"

Charlotte snorted, pushing aside a low hanging branch as we walked along. "So why don't we fight?"

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Because we're being sent to an out of the way and completely forgotten area of the forest, that's why."

"Who says we have to go there?"

Cara stopped in her tracks and stared at Charlotte. "Are you saying we should defy Annabeth, one of the toughest people ever to walk the planet, and go to a different section?"

"Well yeah!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Come on, broseph. All you guys can do is complain about how you aren't going to get to fight. If you want to fight that badly, just do it."

Keith looked at her for a moment before saying, "Sis, I think you might actually have a point. Why don't we join in the fun? I'm sure we won't be missed. Subsection 5 isn't exactly a battle hotspot."

"Well okay!" Cara said with a what-the-hell smile and a shrug. "Where to?"

Charlotte shook her head, her short, light brown hair falling into her eyes. "I have absolutely no idea."

"Well where do you think the battle is going to take place?" Cara asked, adjusting her armor strap.

"Zeus's fist," I interjected quickly. "I overheard Annabeth talking about it last night. That's why she sent all the best archers there. It's a little hard to sword fight on a huge pile of boulders, so she was going to get the Apollo kids to draw the guards down off the rocks with their arrows before launching the attack."

Charlotte shook her head. "Way to eavesdrop, girl."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Whatever. Let's just go before we miss all the fighting."

We broke into a run and headed off in the opposite direction. The only sounds penetrating the warm evening air were our sneakers hitting the lush, grassy forest floor and the occasional chirping bird. It was a perfect and peaceful summer evening. Of course, perfect days are always when you last expect something to go terribly, terribly wrong.

The four of us had finally reached the fringe of trees bordering Zeus's fist, and we were sitting in a little semicircle behind a large cluster of maples that concealed us from view, waiting for the action to begin.

"I wish they would hurry up," I said, ripping out chunks of grass to keep my trembling hands busy.

"Chill, Cora," Keith said. "They'll get here when they get here." He reached over and grabbed my hands. "Stop it. You're hurting the grass."

I grinned and shoved him before going back to ripping out the greenery, but not before glancing up and seeing Charlotte, who was smirking at me. I felt my face getting hot and quickly looked away. Now is not the time, I thought, mentally shaking myself. It's time to get ready for battle. I took a deep breath to compose myself, and then proceeded to pull my glinting bronze knife out of its sleek black sheath to examine it. It had a blade about six inches long and was lethal to any monster or demigod who would happen to get in its way. Annabeth had given it to me my first summer here at Camp Half-Blood, and I hadn't parted from it since. The worn leather grip formed to my hand perfectly. It was the only weapon I ever wanted to have in a fight.

Suddenly, there were shouts from nearby. In a flash, we all had grabbed our helmets and were on our feet, ready to fight. Charlotte had drawn her sword. It was short and sturdy, which allowed it to double as a blunt force weapon used for clubbing people over the head.

Keith pulled out his blade, which was a long, thin sword that he called "the sword of Gryffindor."

Cara had drawn her bow and arrows. They were entirely made of a shiny ebony, with the exception of the arrowheads. Those were made of the glowing celestial bronze that our knives and swords were constructed from. She notched an arrow, and drew her bow into firing position.

Quietly, we crept closer to the edge of the trees to see what was going on. The Ares campers, who had been sitting around on the top of Zeus's fist, were now clambering down the weatherbeaten boulders. Hidden Apollo kids were firing arrows faster than the speed of light, and every now and again one of the guards would yelp in pain as they got hit. However, I knew that the archers had been instructed to, for the most part, shoot over and around the guards. This was merely a distraction until the main unit arrived.

We watched in silence as the stream of arrows continued to fly at the Ares kids.

They finally made it to the bottom of Zeus's fist, and they glared around meanly, trying to spot the archers.

Merely seconds later, someone shouted, "Team Blue!" from the trees opposite us, and a wave of people spilled into the clearing.

The first person I spotted was Annabeth. She whipped her knife, which was almost identical to mine, out of its sheath and sprinted at one of the guards head on. The guard tried to swing his sword at her, but he was too slow. She deflected it easily, and then proceeded to kick him in the gut with all her might. He doubled over and stumbled back a few steps. She banged him on the helmet with the handle of her knife, and he fell to the ground.

Blue fought red. Swords clanged, and shouts echoed through the forest. I was sure Ares backup was on their way, but hopefully they wouldn't make it in time.

Keith's POV

Cora turned to look at me, her gray eyes looking intense. "Ready?"

I nodded. "Ready guys?" I asked the others.

"Let's go," Cara said with a grin, looking excited.

We burst out of the trees. And honestly, it was pretty anticlimactic. If anyone noticed our arrival, they didn't say anything. We all just sort of stood there for a moment.

Suddenly, an Ares camper ran up behind Charlotte, his sword pulled back in preparation to strike.

"Charlotte turn around!" I shouted. Her green eyes widened, and she spun around just in time to deflect the blow.

Meanwhile, Cara began rapidly firing at any and all of the red team members.

"Annabeth!" Cora cried suddenly. I looked around the clearing for a second and then spotted her older sister, who was now battling three campers at once. Annabeth was tough, but even she couldn't hold off that many people at one time.

Cora sprinted toward her sister, her knife drawn. I was about to follow her when I felt something hit me in the back, hard.

The wind was knocked out of me, and I was barely able to keep my balance. Unsteadily, I spun around to defend myself.

A beefy Ares guy was giving me a death stare. He held a large sword in one hand and some sort of club in the other. Greaaaat.

He swung his sword at me and I deflected it easily. Apparently he wasn't much of a swordsman.

Then, he attempted to whack me on the head with his club, but I just knocked it away with the hilt of my sword. Seriously? I thought. Has he ever fought before?

Not long after, the camper was on the ground unconscious. I grinned. Nothing like kicking some Ares butt to put a guy in a good mood.

I scanned the area for the girls. Charlotte had successfully beaten the soldier who had sneak-attacked her, and now she had jumped in to help another blue team member fend off a particularly large enemy. They seemed to be winning easily.

Cara was near the edge, practically melting into the shadows, and shooting up a storm. One of the Ares girls had made the mistake of taking off her helmet, and Cara nailed her in the forehead, causing the girl to fall to her knees and shout profanities.

Where's Cora? I thought, slightly worried. She was tough, so it wasn't likely that she'd been seriously hurt, but you never know.

I spotted her, fighting alongside her sister. She and Annabeth were at the base of Zeus's fist, trying to defeat four Ares campers. They were the last line of defense; if they could get these four out of the way, the flag would be ours. I started to run towards them to help.

Suddenly, several things happened at once. Time seemed to slow down. One of the Ares campers knocked Cora's knife out of her hand, and another swung his club at her. It made contact with her left wrist, and I could practically hear the impact. Her stormy eyes widened for a fraction of a second and then she screamed. My stomach dropped. Then I heard my sister's voice and turned to see Charlotte running towards me, dragging Cara along behind her. "Look! Keith!" she yelled, pointing. Not twenty feet away from Cora and Annabeth, there was a hellhound. It was massive, at least as big as a car.

The three of us looked at each other in horror. Who could have done this? Then I spotted an Ares camper, hiding at the edge of the trees and watching the hellhound, looking pleased.

"He..he summoned..." I stammered, gesturing towards the camper. Cara's eyes widened, but Charlotte just glanced at him.

"Are you really that surprised? It's the god of war's children we're talking about here. Now come ON, we need to help them!"

She yanked on my arm, jerking me into action. We sprinted towards Cora and Annabeth. Cora was attempting to fight using just her right hand, but she looked pale and her face was contorted in pain. Annabeth was doing the best she could, but they wouldn't be able to last much longer. It looked as though they had not even noticed the hellhound yet, who was crouched in the shadows nearby, prepared to spring.

We reached them just as the huge beast let out a bone-chilling howl and bounded towards us. Annabeth rolled to the side, away from the boulder stack and the monster. But we weren't fast enough. It was bearing down on us and there wasn't enough time to run.

"Zeus's fist!" Cara shouted. We all jumped onto the boulders and began scrambling up as fast as we could go. Cora lagged behind, trying to keep her balance and climb using her good hand. I looked behind her and saw that the hellhound was now beginning to climb up the rocks. Although it was clumsy, it'd be upon us within moments.

"Here," I said, walking back to her quickly and grabbing her right hand. "You won't fall. No worries."

She smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I thought you'd leave me behind."

I rolled my eyes at her. "You know we wouldn't do that Cora."

With my help, she was able to move faster, and soon all four of us had nearly reached the summit. But it had all been for nothing it seemed. The monster was still trying to get to us, its red eyes gleaming evilly in the semidarkness.

"Where are we going to go?" Cara asked, panicked.

"I don't-" I began, but then Charlotte cut me off

"Guys look," she said, gesturing to a large space between the rocks. "It looks like some sort of alcove or something. Why don't we try and jump in there?"

Cara frowned. "But what if it's-"

"There's no time to argue!" Cora exclaimed. "That thing will get up here any minute now, and even if my wrist wasn't broken, it's like the size of a Hummer. We're screwed either way. This is our only option."

With that, she let go of my hand and lowered herself down into the alcove. Charlotte didn't even hesitate. She jumped right in after.

I looked at Cara. "Well. Let's do this," I said. She went first. I looked at the space for a moment, and then slid down into the blackness after her.

Keith's POV

I was falling for longer than I would have expected. Just as fear started to creep into my stomach, I hit the floor with a thud.

"What the-" I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing my head. I looked around. It was pretty dark, but somehow I had the feeling that this wasn't what it was supposed to be.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my right arm, and I jumped violently.

"It's me, it's me," Charlotte's voice said. I relaxed, exhaling slowly.

"Where ARE we?"

"I don't know. I really have no-"

"I know," said another familiar voice in my left ear. I jumped again. Cora giggled.

"Sorry," she said, sounding completely unapologetic. "Anyway, as I was saying, I know exactly where we are. Look down to your right. And then to your left. See any walls?"

I frowned. "No...it's almost like we're sitting in a-"

"Hallway," Charlotte said, sounding scared.

"So?" Cara said, also off to my right somewhere.

"Isn't it obvious?" Cora asked. "We're in the Labyrinth."

I felt my blood run cold. "Wh-what?"

"The Labyrinth. Daedalus's Labyrinth."

"But that was destroyed a few years ago," Cara said, disbelief in her voice.

At least I wasn't the only disbelieving one.

Cora sighed, her breath tickling my face. "The Labyrinth supposedly was destroyed because Daedalus died, right? Well, it did crumble. But it reformed within months, becoming even bigger and better. It is much too powerful for it to have been eliminated that easily. Although it was tied to his life force to some extent, it evolved into its own living, growing structure. That's why it is able to exist even though he's gone. Even while he was alive, it was no longer inside his control. It had become something more."

I gaped at her. "How do you know this?"

"Annabeth had her suspicions. We've talked about it a lot before."

"So...so we're really in the Labyrinth?" Cara asked, sounding amazed.

"Sure are."

"Oh my GOD!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Alright, this is cool. This is very cool."

"How do we get out?" I asked nervously. "Isn't this place full of traps and monsters? We probably should leave while we can."

"No. We should obviously explore it. Once Chiron knows about this he'll never let us back in," Charlotte said decisively.

We glared at each other.

"Guys," Cara said. "Why don't we just leave and come back another day?"

"But Chiron won't let us!" Charlotte shouted, exasperated.

"I have an idea," I said suddenly. Everyone fell quiet. "Why don't two of us sneak out and get some supplies? Then we can go on a quest."

"Do you have any idea how many rules that breaks?" Charlotte asked me.

"Well, yeah but-"

"It's a fantastic idea!" she cried, cutting me off. "Let's do it!"

"Cora? Cara?" I asked.

There was a pause.

"If you guys are sure you want to, I don't mind coming along," Cara said finally.

"Cora?" I asked, holding my breath.

"Definitely," she responded. I grinned.

"A quest, a quest, we're going on a quest!" Cara sang. "Can Charlotte and I fetch the supplies?"

"You most certainly may," Cora replied.

I couldn't stop smiling. I felt full of happiness and excitement and energy. This wasn't training anymore. This was the real deal. Monsters? Bring it on.

"A quest, a quest, we're going on a quest," I sang under my breath. And what a quest it would be.

**Okay, so review please:)**

**That was the longest chapter ever. Soooo much fun to write!**

**I hope you liked that half of it was Keith's POV. I thought it'd be interesting to switch it up. It'll be back to being Cora's POV next chapter:)**

**Keep on reading!**


	4. Chapter 4 Part 1

**Okay, so this is normally Storiesfortheeasilyamused's story, right? Well, not for this chapter. I, ummsolikeyeahh, have officially stolen her story for a chapter. Well, she told me to. Okay, that's a lie. We both thought it would be awesome if Charlotte got to have her point of view in the story, and since Megan thinks I talk like Charlotte, I said I would write it. Since it is my writing, it obviously going to be sub-par. Don't hate. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

**Charlotte's POV:**

"Charlotte and I should go get some supplies before we go on our quest," said Cara. _Yeah, quest. _I thought. You couldn't really call this a quest since we weren't actually asked to do this.

"But I'm laaazzzyyy," I said. They know better than to ask me to do things. Or, at least, they should know better.

"Charlotte, you have to go. Cora's hurt and I have to stay with her," Keith pleaded. Oh, sure. It has nothing to do with the fact that he would get to be alone with the girl he has a crush on. I still couldn't believe that Cora hadn't even figured it out. It's seriously creepy watching your brother and your best friend have crushes on each other.

"Keith, she's my best friend. Why would you want to stay anyway? I mean, it's Cora. Do you even like her?" Come on. Admit it. Admit it!

"Well, yeah. I mean, Cora's pretty cool. Why would I not like her? We've been friends for years." Keith replied. That was so not what I wanted to hear.

"Fine. I'll go, but I hope you two have a very nice, awkward conversation while we're gone." I said. Both of their faces turned bright red. They each tried to hide it from everyone else. Cara and I started giggling. Now I could go. "Come on Cara. Let's get going." I smirked.

Cara laughed. "You're silly, Charlotte." Cringed internally. "Fine. Let's go. We haven't got all day!" Sometimes I just wanted to smack them. Silly? Calling ME silly? That's just not a cool thing to do. I tell them it bothers me, and they just say, "We're not changing who we are for you, Charlotte." Bullshit. Quit calling me silly.

"Yeah. Not all day." I say with a grimace.

As we went to leave, I called to the lovebirds and told them not to misbehave. They both stared at me in a disbelieving way. That's what you get.

Cara and I left the Labyrinth and walked back towards the Big House. I could see Chiron sitting down by the lake with some of the Hermes kids, so the coast was clear.

"Hey, what'd you mean about Keith and Cora being 'lovebirds'?" Cara asked. I looked at her. My expression of complete "Are you serious?" must have been hilarious, because Cara started cackling.

"Can you really not tell?" I inquired. I mean, I don't know the first thing about love, but I could tell they had crushes on each other. You'd have to be a special kind of stupid to not notice that. "They are obviously in love with each other."

"Good. So I'm not the only one that sees it." Thank God she said that, otherwise I would have had to smite her for her stupidity.

We got almost all the way to the Big House without anyone thinking we were up to no good, but of course that couldn't last.

"CARA! CHARLOTTE!" I knew who it was without looking. The nasally voice gave her away immediately. Ladies and Gentlemen, the one, the only, the most insufferable girl on this planet. That's right, you guessed it! It's Brooke Lyre! Even her name makes me want to punch her. Then again, I'd want to punch myself if my first name was related to a river and my last name was a musical instrument. You would never believe how much vanity could be packed into such a slight frame. I swear, if she wore pink as much as the Aphrodite girls, I'd think she was one of them.

"Brooke, we really don't have time for this. We'll talk to you later." I said. If we talk to you. Which wouldn't happen because we'd have been killed by that point.

"Charlotte! You need to listen," Kill me now. "I need to find Cora."

"And what did Cora do to deserve this? I mean, did she accidentally sing better than you and now you're offended? I apologize on her behalf. It won't happen again. I will personally remove her vocal chords. Trust me, we all want that. Now, if you'll excuse us, Cara and I need to go procure a few items." We left. I felt kind of bad, but that quickly went away when we realized she was following us.

Cara called out to her. "So Brooke, what're you doing…?" Cara looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"I'm following you two. I know you're going to wherever Cora is, and I need to talk to her."

"Must you be so annoying?" I asked. I've never been one to beat around the bush. Especially since we were in a bit of a rush and we would be able to get back until Brooke left us alone.

She didn't reply. I looked at Cara, nodded, and then we turned and kept walking.

As we neared the Big House, we noticed that she was still riding on our coattails. This would be a most excellent moment for one of those lightening strikes that Thalia was always threatening us with, but there was no such luck for us.

I entered the Big House, and Cara followed close behind me. We started gathering some supplies that we would need. Food, flashlights, bug spray, ambrosia, the whole shebang. Brooke walked in, took one look at what we were doing, and started yelling for Chiron. I tackled her, and put my hand over her mouth.

"What do I have to do so that you say nothing?" I asked.

"Hmmm. This is a tough one," Really? Did she want to die? "How about you take me to Cora so that I can talk to her. Where is she anyway? I haven't seen her since Capture the Flag." Cara snorted. I looked over at her, and she was laughing! I'm sure I looked silly to her right then. Stupid silly.

Cara answered Brooke. "Fine, we'll take you there, but you have to help carry stuff. And don't scream for Chiron, kay?"

"Okay, that's great. I just need to tell her to stay away from my man."

"Yeah, well you can do that later, for now, hold this bag." I gave her a big bag of supplies to carry, and we set off.

We double-timed it back to the entrance of the labyrinth. We looked a bit conspicuous with a short, blonde, Santa look-alike on out tail. It was so nice of me to give her the biggest bag to carry. She looked like she might pass out, but that would mean that she wouldn't have to come with us. Those would both be welcomed.

As we got to the entrance of the Labyrinth, Brooke started to get antsy. She was too busy complaining about the giant bag on her back to realize where we were. She didn't even notice when Cara and I went down into the Labyrinth. She just followed us blindly.

I flipped a flashlight on to see Cora's tear-stained face. She was huddled on the floor, cradling her broken wrist. I guess we should have tried to get there a bit sooner… Keith was sitting on the other side of the hallway looking worried.

I threw some ambrosia at Cora, which she immediately ate. I could see the relief flood on both Cora's and Keith's faces. Aw, it was so damn adorable, I could have puked.

Brooke then decided that this would be the best time to pull Cora away for their little "discussion". I felt bad for Cora. In one day she's broken her wrist, and she's had to have and actual conversation with Brooke. That is the definition of bad luck.

Cora came back looking more than a bit pissed off, and Brooke looked smug. I don't even want to know what just happened.

"Well I guess I'll be leaving now. Have fun in the Labyrinth. I hope you all die. Well, not you, Keith. I'd be extremely happy if you didn't die." Cora looked like she was going to beat Brooke with a cat.

"You do realize that you can't leave now, right?" I asked. "I mean, if we let you go, you get to go tell Chiron that we're in here. And that would ruin all of our fun. So, as much as I hate to say it, you have to stay with us. Try not to be too annoying." I threw her a flashlight, and we set of into the Labyrinth.

**Okay! So that is Chapter 4 Part 1. I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't, you clearly have no soul. Remember, favorite this story and the author Storiesfortheeasilyamused. Don't favorite me. This will probably be the only thing I write. Well, there might be more of Charlotte's POV later, but that'll probably be it. **

**Review! **


	5. Chapter 4 Part 2

**Hello! I'm back!**

**So as you read, my lovely friend ummsolikeyeahh wrote Part 1 of this chapter from Charlotte's POV. Which, I think you'll agree, was hysterical. Anyway, Part 2 is going to consist of the same events, but from Cora's POV once more. **

**There's lots of Keith-Cora stuff going on in this chapter. Yay!**

**So here it goes:)**

**~SftEA~**

"Charlotte and I should go get some supplies before we go on our quest," Cara said.

"But I'm laaazzzyyy," Charlotte complained. I rolled my eyes. Why couldn't she just go? It'd be nice to get to talk to Keith alone for a bit...No, stop that! I thought.

"Charlotte, you have to go. Cora's hurt and I have to stay with her," Keith pleaded. I couldn't help but smile to myself. But it quickly turned into a grimace when I remembered the throbbing pain it my wrist. It was steadily increasing. I wished they would just hurry up and get me some damn ambrosia, because I was starting to feel a little dizzy.

Keith and Charlotte began arguing about who would stay with me, but finally Charlotte sighed and gave in.

"Fine. I'll go, but I hope you two have a very nice, awkward conversation while we're gone." Heat flooded my face, and I looked down quickly. Leave it to Charlotte to make things uncomfortable. Eurgh. Sometimes I just wanted to smack the girl.

Cara and Charlotte began making their way out of the Labyrinth, both looking rather amused at my embarrassment. And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, Charlotte turned back around and met my eyes with an evil grin.

"Oh, and don't misbehave, lovebirds!" she called out, before bursting into laughter. I stared at her with disbelief etched all over my face. Did she seriously just say that?

With another wicked grin, she clambered out of the Labyrinth.

It was silent for a moment. Keith was still sitting right next to me, OF COURSE. The only sounds were his breathing and water dripping somewhere far off in the maze. I glanced over at him, and he was staring down at his hands, looking as nervous as I felt.

If Charlotte made it back without being caught, she was going to suffer a long and painful death for putting me through this.

Another stabbing pain shot through my wrist. I inhaled sharply, my eyes watering. I hoped to the gods they would hurry.

"Cora? Are you alright?" Keith asked. I looked up. Concern filled his green eyes.

"Yeah," I mumbled, looking down again. "My wrist just really hurts." My voice cracked at the end of the sentence, and I felt the tears flood my eyes. One slid down my cheek, and I brushed it away, hoping he hadn't noticed. No way was I going to cry.

Luck just wasn't in my favor today, so naturally he noticed right away. "Oh, Cora, it's okay. They'll be back with the ambrosia soon. Hang in there." He slid closer to me and put his arm around me. I leaned against his shoulder and cradled my wrist, blinking the tears out of my eyes. It occurred to me that this moment would have been much more enjoyable if I wasn't in so much pain. As it was, I still definitely enjoyed it.

It fell silent again, but it was a comfortable silence this time. I closed my eyes, trying to savor it.

Why don't you just tell him now? I thought to myself. Tell him how you really feel about him. Come on. Do it!

"Keith..." I began, my voice trembling.

"Yes?" he asked.

I took a deep breath. "I want to talk to you about something."

"There's something I want to talk to you about, too," he replied. "But ladies first."

My pulse raced. "Okay, I don't really know how to say this..."

Suddenly, light streamed in from above. Cara and Charlotte were on their way back in.

"We can talk later," I whispered to him. "Also, you might want to sit on the other side because of..."

He nodded. "Charlotte. Got it." With that, we broke apart, and he quickly moved to the opposite side of the hallway. I sat across from him, huddled up and trying to think around the throbbing pain.

Charlotte and Cara tumbled down onto the floor with monstrous bags of supplies. Charlotte switched on her flashlight and shined it on my face. She quickly dug through our stores and threw me some ambrosia.

I ate it quickly. The square tasted like my favorite kind of mushroom and pepperoni pizza. Warmth flooded my body, and immediately the pain in my wrist dulled. Relief washed over my face, and I smiled at Charlotte gratefully. Maybe I wouldn't kill her after all.

Unfortunately, that's when I noticed HER. There was a third person who had returned with my two best friends.

Brooke Lyre dropped the bag of supplies she'd been carrying, which was practically as big as her, and smoothed her blonde hair. She looked at me and smiled sweetly. "Cora," she singsonged. "We need to talk." As she grabbed my good arm and pulled me a few feet away, I looked at Keith and widened my eyes. What the hell? I mouthed to him. He just shrugged and shook his head, looking as confused as I felt.

"Okay," Brooke said when we were out of hearing range, folding her arms over her chest. "Look. I get the feeling your relationship with Keith isn't a 'just friends' sort of thing. Well, obviously it is on his end. But you, well, I can tell that you have romantic feelings for him."

I raised my eyebrows at her. Who did this girl think she was?

Unfortunately, Brooke didn't seem to pick up on my "stop talking or I'm going to break your nose," vibe, because she continued. "You need to stay away from Keith. It's actually a little pathetic how you're always looking at him with that sweet, sappy look on your face. Don't you get it? Keith is MINE. He doesn't like you, or he would have told you. Why on earth would he like you anyway? I mean, come on. You're like, way less pretty than Cara and Charlotte. If he would date one of his best friends, it'd be one of them. Not you. But he won't date one of them, because he's going to date me. I like him, and I'm going to get him. Boys trip over their own feet to get in line to date me. Keith won't be an exception."

My jaw dropped. I was stunned. Completely and utterly stunned. Keith IS an exception! I wanted to yell. That's why I like him! But my throat had gone dry. I didn't know if I would ever be capable of speech again. I was torn between being hurt, being worried, and being extremely pissed off. But, me being me, I hid the upset and worried emotions and just showed the pissed off one. I glared at her, wishing looks could actually kill.

Misreading my expression entirely, Brooke patted my arm in a condescending way and smiled at me. "Aw, it's okay. There's a guy out there for everyone. Keith just isn't yours."

And with that, she turned around and sauntered back over to the others. I followed her, unable to keep the extremely pissed off expression off my face. I sensed everyone staring at us. I felt Keith's eyes on me, but I just couldn't look at him right now, or I was going to crack. Instead I met Charlotte's eyes. She looked sympathetic. Yeah, she better look sympathetic. This was all her fault. Why did she even bring Brooke here?

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving now," Brooke announced. "Have fun in the Labyrinth. I hope you all die. Well, not you, Keith. I'd be extremely happy if you didn't die." And then she turned and winked at me.

If I hadn't had a few years of enduring her vanity and obnoxious behavior, I would have strangled her. Even still, I came close to it. It felt like all of the anger inside of me was about to bubble over. I took a deep breath and attempted to hold on to my self-control.

"You do realize that you can't leave now, right?" Charlotte asked. "I mean, if we let you go, you get to go tell Chiron that we're in here. And that would ruin all of our fun. So, as much as I hate to say it, you have to stay with us. Try not to be too annoying." She tossed Brooke a flashlight.

I couldn't believe my luck. Could things get any worse?

Only time would reveal the answer to that.

We gathered our things and set off into the Labyrinth.

**Ta da! I hope you enjoyed that chapter:) So much drama! **

**I have a rather free day today, so I'm going to do my very best to post Chapter 5 as well.**

**Love you all!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Here it is- the fourth chapter of this story that has been posted this weekend! I think this deserves an award or something.**

**I am going to dedicate this to my family. Thank you for letting me stay in my room all day with the laptop and write (even though you think I've been doing homework all day). It is much appreciated.**

"Can we pleaasee stop and rest now? My feet hurt."

Oh. My. GODS.

"That's it. I'm going to shoot her," Cara muttered to me. I just looked at her.

"Not if I shoot her first."

Brooke Lyre is, without a doubt, the worst travel companion you could ever imagine. We'd been in the Labyrinth with her for less than an hour, and she was already getting on our last nerves.

"Seriously, if we don't stop soon I'm going back to camp. I don't care what you say. I'm going back and I'm telling Chiron."

"BROOKE!" Charlotte shouted. "We already have been through this at least five times. You can't go back even if we allowed you to! The Labyrinth is constantly changing. You'd get lost and then wander around until you died."

"Not that we would be too disappointed about that," I added. Charlotte looked impressed at my meanness. She shouldn't be too surprised. Although I hadn't yet told her what went down between Brooke and me, it was clear that it had made me beyond infuriated.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Cora. You're just mad because K-"

"Okaaayyy, let's just keep walking, shall we?" Cara interjected quickly, coming to my rescue. Keith looked completely confused, but luckily he didn't ask any questions.

The five of us walked in silence for a while. Right now we were in an older section of the maze. The walls were made out of worn stone, and looked like they dated back to ancient times. They probably did.

Suddenly, we came to the end of the hallway. It split off into two separate tunnels. The one on the right was tall and made of shiny white marble. The one on the left was low and made from gray stone. Vines crept up the walls, and puddles of water were on the floor.

"Let's go down the-" Keith began.

"We're going down the right one," Brooke interrupted. "There is nooo way I'm getting these shoes wet. They're way too cute."

I looked down at her feet. She was wearing shiny chestnut Uggs. "What are you talking about? Those are perfect for ruining! It's not like they're cute or anything."

Charlotte snorted. Brooke flashed her the evil eye and then looked at me with a self-righteous expression on her stupid, Reese Witherspoon-look-alike face. "Oh you're so funny, Cora," she said with a fake laugh. Then, raising her eyebrows at me, she walked over to Keith.

"Isn't she so funny, Keith?" she simpered, giving him her sweetest smile.

"Uhh, sure...?" he said, looking over at me with raised eyebrows. At least her flirting attempts were failing. I just shrugged. It wasn't like I could explain any of this to him. Better to just let him think the girl was crazy.

Still, even if he wasn't going to fall for Brooke (which seemed unlikely, but one could never really be sure), some of the things she said were really bothering me. They were lingering in the back of my mind, like an itch I couldn't scratch. I mean, she was right. Cara and Charlotte are awesome. What makes me think he would like me over them? The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed. I got the sense that this was exactly what Brooke had wanted.

Well, she was getting what she wanted, then. As always.

"Fine, Brooke. We'll go down the damn marble tunnel so you don't get any water over your ugly, overpriced boots. Happy?" Charlotte asked, sounding irritated.

"Yes," she replied, smiling.

We walked down the shining white hallway. Charlotte fell into step with me. She glanced at Brooke to make sure she wasn't listening, saw that she was now bugging Cara, and whispered to me, "What did she say to you earlier when she pulled you aside?"

I looked over at Keith. He didn't seem like he was listening, but it was a definite possibility.

"I'll tell you later, okay? We can volunteer to take first watch once we stop. When they're asleep, I'll fill you in.

"Deal."

We walked on in silence. Brooke seemed to be telling Cara something about how the show The Secret Life of the American Teenager was spectacular, even better than Fringe.

I winced. Cara was not going to be happy about the Fringe-bashing.

The tunnel curved suddenly, and as soon as we rounded the corner, we stopped in our tracks.

In front of us was a weird, hybrid animal. It had the head of a lion, what appeared to be a goat's body, and a huge python as a tail. Its head was resting on its massive paws and its eyes were closed. Due to the fact that steam rose from its nostrils each time it exhaled, I could only suppose that it breathed fire.

Cara's eyes widened. "That's a..." she whispered, unable to finish her sentence.

"Chimera," Keith finished. His face was white.

"OH MY-" Brooke began to cry. Luckily, Cara clapped her hand over Brooke's mouth just in time. The monster made a hiccuping sound, but other than that it did not stir.

"Girl," Charlotte hissed. "You need to shut the hell up. You're going to wake it up, and unless you want to be either eaten, burned, bitten, or all of the above, I suggest you keep your mouth closed."

Brooke's eyes widened, presumably at Charlotte's rudeness, but she nodded, and Cara let her go.

"Let's turn around," Cara suggested.

"We can't," Keith said grimly. "Look."

Indeed, we couldn't. Bars had now closed over the only other way out. We were going to have to get past this thing to reach the door on the other side of the room.

"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath. "Brooke, Cara, and Keith, you're going to go to its right. Charlotte and I will try to distract it from the left side so you guys can get through first. We'll follow you after you're safe."

Keith seemed to pale even more. "But you guys could get killed. No way. I'm helping too."

I shook my head. "It's cool, Keith. We're good fighters. Besides, I don't think Cara could put up with Brooke on her own."

He smiled. "Probably not. Okay then. I guess it's decided. But don't die, okay?"

Charlotte made a face. "Whatever, broseph. We'll be fine."

"Guys, will you hurry up? Let's get this over with so we can sleep," Brooke whined.

Keith rolled his eyes. "Life or death situation and her biggest concern is getting her beauty sleep." Maybe I shouldn't have been so worried about him.

I looked at Charlotte. "Ready?" I asked, pulling out my knife.

She drew her sword. "Ready."

We walked towards it tentatively. With a nod to her, I darted up to the Chimera and woke it up in the nicest way possible- I stabbed it in the shoulder.

Its yellow eyes sprung open. I rolled to the side just in time to avoid a blast of fire. Charlotte then snuck in and stabbed it in the side. It let out a roar of outrage and sent fire streaming towards her. She leaped out of the way, barely avoiding it.

We continued this little game for about thirty seconds before Cara's voice drifted back to us. "We're through! Now hurry up!"

I locked eyes with Charlotte. Wordlessly, something passed between us and I knew exactly what to do. She nodded to me and we both ran straight for the monster. We each stabbed it in its left side as hard as we could, and then sprinted around to its right like our lives depended on. Well, our lives did depend on it.

It worked. The Chimera was too slow to notice us, and it was spraying the left wall with flames, scorching the gorgeous marble. Charlotte grabbed my arm and we raced towards the door. All three of them were waiting for us in the doorway, and as soon as we reached them Cara slammed the door shut behind us.

"You're alive, you're alive, you're alive!" Keith sang, and he pulled both of us into a hug.

"Pshh, am I seriously being left out of this?" Cara asked, and she came over and joined our little hug-fest.

Even Brooke managed to smile a halfway-genuine smile at us. "Nice job guys," she said, sounding rather halfhearted. "You didn't get killed."

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Charlotte added.

Tired yet happy, we all set off into the maze once more. After about twenty minutes of walking along, we came upon a plain, empty room with brick walls and hardwood floor.

"Time to make camp!" Cara said. Brooke sighed with relief.

As we set up our sleeping bags, I thought to myself that our first day in the Labyrinth had gone pretty well. None of us had killed Brooke just yet, and we'd gotten past the only monster we encountered.

I looked around at everyone. Cara and Charlotte were bickering good-naturedly about who-knows-what. Brooke was brushing her hair. Typical. And Keith was digging through a supply bag in search of something.

I walked over to him. "Whatcha looking for?"

He didn't respond for a second, still rummaging through the bag. Then he pulled something out triumphantly. "Ta da!" he said, showing the object to me.

It was a Harry Potter book. Naturally.

I smiled, and he smiled back at me. His blonde hair was messy and he looked absolutely exhausted. Even so, as he grinned at me, I couldn't help but be sad.

Keith was spectacular. He was hilarious, crazy, sweet, adorable, awesome, and many, many more things.

And Brooke was right about one thing.

_Why on Earth would he like you anyway? I mean, come on._

What hurt the most was not that she said it. What hurt the most was that she was right.

**Awwww such sadness.**

**Just a heads up, the next chapter is going to be another divided one, like chapter 4 was. Yayy! More of Charlotte's insanity.**

**Review! xD**


	7. Chapter 6 part 1

**And now I'm back! From outer space! I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face! **

**Hello y'all. It's me again. Ummsolikeyeahh. AKA Molly. Whichever works. **

**She invited me back to do another chapter! Ohmygosh! She must actually like me!**

**I have to thank Megan for letting me hack her account in order to post this. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own PJO. **

**CHARLOTTE'S POV:**

"Cooooooooraaaaaaaa!" I sang. "It's time for us to get up and keep watch!"

"Ungh. Gwo anwey. I wannnaaa stey asweep."

"That was eloquent. I'm moved. Please say more words." I retorted in a sarcastic tone.

"Fine! I'm up. I don't see why you couldn't do this without me, though. We all know you're basically the best fighter here. Plus we have like bait in the form of an annoying blonde. What more could you ask for? All I ask for is that you let me sleep next time." Ouch. Someone was a bit pissy. She had reason for it though.

"Hey, you're supposed to tell me what the hell happened between you and Brooke. Remember…?"

"RIGHT! I forgot. Okay. So she called me over there, right? And she was all like, "Cora, you need to stay away from my man. Keith is MINE. Also, why would he want to date you? I mean, Charlotte and Cara are a whole lot prettier than you, so he would obviously pick one of them." And I was really pissed. I can't shake it, but I know that she's right." Cora sighed. She looked like she was going to start sobbing. Which is something that she doesn't do.

"There are a few flaws in Brooke's little speech there, sweetheart. The first and biggest mistake she made is saying Keith would like me. We're brother and sister. Clearly she is an idiot. Or she was really desperate to mess with your mind. So that plan is a no-go. You might have to worry about Cara though," I laughed. She glared sharply at me, so I stuck out my tongue. "You know I was kidding."

"Yeah, but that still worries me." She sputtered. Oh, come on! It was like she was trying to imitate every bad chick-flick ever made. That is the kind of shit that grates on my nerves constantly. Some have said that I possess no soul. Others have argued that I am the incarnation of the Devil (Clearly not since I actually know Hades). But seriously, does everything have to be made into some kind of drama crap?

I disregarded her last comment, and we returned to our job. The silence couldn't last.

"What are you guys doing?" Of course. Of freakin' course. We couldn't have thirty minutes without her interrupting us.

"I knew I should have drowned you when I had the chance." I said. Brooke had become used to my sadistic sarcasm at this point, and didn't even flinch when I said this.

"Oh come on, Charlotte. I just wanted to have a little bit of time to get to know you guys better. Y'know, girl time." she said with a fake smile plastered to her face. I wondered if I could somehow learn how to use the force at that specific moment. That would have been so fantastic.

"I'm out," I said. "Homie don't play that."

"Please don't leave, Charlotte. I might accidentally stab her or something," Cora said.

I laughed. "No, I'm going to leave. I'm not participating in whatever the hell your little conversation is going to be. And also, Brooke, what the hell were you doing saying that Keith would rather date me than Cora. Can you even begin to wrap your small, deluded mind around how wrong that is? HE IS MY BROTHER. That's fucking weird," I stopped here just to see if this magical realization occurred to her. She looked more than a bit perplexed. I don't blame her, she isn't the smartest. I continued with my rant, "And on that note, I'm returning to guard duty. Have fun talking," I said with a smirk.

I walked away and sat down near a turn in the hallway. I sat down on the ground and started to play Solitaire. Just as I started to set up the game, a cold, scaly hand wrapped around my calf. I screamed. And then it all went black.


	8. Chapter 6 part 2

**I dedicate this chapter to Claire.**

**Love you girl. I'm glad you actually like my story:)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

"Coooooooraaaaaaa!" Charlotte sang in my ear. "It's time for us to get up and keep watch!"

I groaned. It felt like I had just closed my eyes. And did she seriously have to be so damn LOUD?

"Ugh," I mumbled, my words slurring. "Go away. I wanna stay asleep." I rolled over, praying she'd just leave me alone. I'd had a hard day. I deserved a break. Surely she could see that.

As if.

"That was eloquent. I'm moved. Please say more words," she said sarcastically.

"Fine!" I said irritably. "I'm up. I don't see why you couldn't do this without me, though. We all know you're basically the best fighter here. Plus we have like bait in the form of an annoying blonde. What more could you ask for? All I ask for is that you let me sleep next time." I hadn't meant for that to come out as rudely as it did, but whatever. I wasn't in the mood to actually care.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, still trying to wake up.

"Hey, you're supposed to tell me what the hell happened between you and Brooke. Remember...?" Charlotte asked me eagerly. She loved hearing stories about Brooke's bitchiness.

"RIGHT! I forgot. Okay. So she called me over there, right? And she was all like, "Cora, you need to stay away from my man. Keith is MINE. Also, why would he want to date you? I mean, Charlotte and Cara are a whole lot prettier than you, so he would obviously pick one of them." And I was really pissed. I can't shake it, but I know that she's right." At the end of the last sentence, I looked down at my yellow pajama pants and blinked hard. I so did not want to cry about this in front of Charlotte. I don't cry in front of people. Painful injuries are obviously an exception, as with my wrist, but otherwise I just don't. I wasn't about to change that now.

"There are a few flaws in Brooke's little speech there, sweetheart," she said to me. "The first and biggest mistake she made is saying Keith would like me. We're brother and sister. Clearly she is an idiot. Or she was really desperate to mess with your mind. So that plan is a no-go. You might have to worry about Cara though." Charlotte laughed. I winced, shooting her a dirty look. This wasn't exactly something I liked to joke about.

She stuck her tongue out at me. "You know I was kidding."

"Yeah, but that still worries me," I admitted shakily. As soon as the sentence was out, I regretted it immediately. I wanted to get up and bang my head against the brick wall. I mean, I love Charlotte to death, and she's one of my best friends, but this wasn't something I could really talk about with her. It just wasn't. It probably would've been better to discuss it with Cara, but at the moment she was sleeping soundly a few feet away from us.

Luckily for me, Charlotte saved me her usual "Oh my gods, you're so dramatic, you know I hate talking about this crap" speech. We fell into a comfortable silence. I stifled a yawn.

"What are you guys doing?" an irritatingly familiar voice asked. Damn it all.

"I should have drowned you when I had the chance," Charlotte said to Brooke, who was now walking towards us. She was wearing cutesy pink pajamas from Victoria's Secret. Vomit.

"Oh come on, Charlotte," Brooke retorted, sitting down next to me and crossing her legs. I resisted the urge to scoot away from her. "I just wanted to have a little bit of time to get to know you guys better. Y'know, girl time," she said, smiling sweetly. Don't be fooled. There is evil behind her nice exterior. For lack of a better analogy, one could say that she's exactly like one of the Plastics in Mean Girls.

"I'm out," Charlotte declared, getting to her feet and brushing dirt off her green sweats. "Homie don't play that."

I could feel myself pale. "Please don't leave, Charlotte," I begged. "I might accidentally stab her or something." Seriously, it was a possibility. I hoped to Zeus that she wouldn't do this to me. C'mon.

She snorted. "No, I'm going to leave. I'm not participating in whatever the hell your little conversation is going to be. And also, Brooke, what the hell were you doing saying that Keith would rather date me than Cora. Can you even begin to wrap your small, deluded mind around how wrong that is? HE IS MY BROTHER. That's fucking weird." She paused, studying Brooke's expression for a moment. My gray eyes were wide. Sometimes I wished I could have the nerve of that girl, even for just a second. She continued, "And on that note, I'm returning to guard duty. Have fun talking," she said with an amused smirk before turning around and walking off. I would have bet money she was going to go sit in the hallway and play Solitaire. Some friend. Jeeze.

Then again, she had just stuck up for me to Brooke, who was now looking supremely mad. Wait...why was she glaring at ME? I'm not the one who just went off on her.

She was flushed with anger. "God, Cora. You're such a bitch sometimes."

My jaw dropped. "ME? You're the one who told me to stay away from your man. He isn't even yours. Do you not get that? He's one of my best friends. I actually care about him. You'd like, date him for a week and then go find some other guy to drool over. On top of that, you said that he would never like me in a million years, which was rather insulting. So clearly you're the bitch." I sucked in a breath. I had never been so mean to anyone in my life. But I was done. No way in hell was she walking all over me anymore.

She looked stunned for a moment, but then she regained her composure and rolled her eyes at me. "Oh please. It isn't like it wasn't all true."

I shook my head. "You think you're so damn fantastic. Well guess what? No one likes you. You go around acting like we should all worship you. But really, you don't even have any real friends. It's actually a little sad."

Brooke snorted, pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. "My life is sad? Yeah, okay. You have all of three friends. I think you're the one we should be pitying here."

"So what? Three real friends is better than hundreds of fake ones," I pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "Could you be any more jealous?"

I was stunned. "Jealous? Of you? Are you freaking serious?"

She smirked. "Yes, obviously you're jealous. Why else would you have told all of that stuff I said to you to Charlotte? You're trying to turn everyone against me. But guess what? It isn't going to work. I'm sorry, Cora. Maybe you should get over Keith so you can go on with your pathetic little life."

I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it. Her logic was so pathetic it was actually laughable.

"Girl, my life is awesome, and so are my friends. I'm sorry you can't see that. And as for Keith, I'm not just going to accept defeat. If he actually does like you, and I hope to the gods that he doesn't because that'd mean he actually is crazy, then I'm sure Charlotte, Cara, and myself will help him come to his senses. Now if you'll excuse me, this conversation has wasted precious minutes of my life that I'll never get back. Let's not waste anymore." I got to my feet and slid my shoes into my Converse. "I'm going to go find Charlotte now."

"Whatever," she said, pulling out her iPod.

I walked out of the brick room to find Charlotte, still shaking my head at Brooke's insanity. Our little confrontation had helped me feel a lot better, though. Mostly because I'd basically won, and I love to win.

"Charlotte," I called out, my voice echoing through the chamber. But there was no response.

That's weird, I thought to myself.

"Charlotte?" I yelled again, my pace quickening. Where was she?

I came to a sharp turn in the hallway. I rounded the bend. The hallway abruptly ended at a simple red door. I frowned. Where could Charlotte have wandered off to? Then, something on the ground caught my eye.

It was a playing card.

Shakily, I picked up and flipped it over. Ace of spades. There was a message scrawled on it.

"Come along, demigods. Your little friend won't last much longer."


	9. Chapter 7

**I hope this chapter was worth the suspense :D**

**I dedicate this to all of my lovely friends, particularly those of you who inspired various characters in this story. You make my life so much more fantastic. :)**

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own PJO. **

For a moment I stood there, frozen in place. I shook myself. _Wake the others. Go save her._ I stuffed the playing card into the pocket of my black sweatshirt and took off sprinting, my footsteps echoing through the dank hallway.

I burst into the room. Brooke had gone back to sleep, and everything was calm. No. How could everything seem so peaceful when my best friend was missing?

Suddenly, Cara sat up, looking disoriented. "Where's the fire?" she asked.

My eyebrows knit together. "Charlotte's gone."

She turned as white as the blanket she was sleeping under. "What?" she questioned, disbelief in her voice.

"We were keeping watch, and...and Brooke was bothering us, so she got annoyed and left to go play...play Solitaire..." I wished my voice would stop cracking. "And I went to go look for her, but she was...gone. All I found was this card." Carefully, I extracted the object from my pocket and held it up. Cara threw the blanket off her and walked towards me quickly, looking horrified. She took it from my shaking hands and examined it. Her brown eyes grew wide as she read the message.

"Monsters wouldn't have left us a nice little message," she said slowly. "There's something bigger going on here."

I frowned. "No one even knows where we are. And even if they did, why? Why would they take her?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. But they obviously want us to go find her."

I inhaled sharply. "Well we don't really have any other option I guess."

"Where do we even start?" Cara asked, looking lost. She looked like she might start crying. I couldn't say I blamed her.

"Where she went missing...I found the card by a door. I don't know what's behind it, but it could be a way out of this place. It's a start at least."

She nodded absently, gazing around the room. After a moment she met my eyes. "What if we can't find her?" she asked quietly, voicing my thoughts. "What if she's just...gone? We have nothing to go on except a playing card with a cryptic message written on it and our own instincts. I don't think that's going to be enough."

I was quiet for a minute before reaching out and giving her a hug. "It's okay," I said, trying to make her feel better. "We can do this."

She shook her head. "I hope so."

We stood there in silence. "We should probably wake the others," Cara said finally, taking a deep breath. We both knew that we had to hold it together if we ever wanted to get Charlotte back. Besides, it's not like crying ever solved anything.

"Umm. I'll go wake Brooke," Cara said. I grimaced. Of course I had to be the one to tell Keith that his sister, and one of his best friends in the universe, was missing. This was not a job I wanted.

While Cara shook Brooke awake, I walked over to Keith and knelt down on the floor next to him, tapping his shoulder. He rolled over and blinked up at me sleepily. "'Sup?" he said.

I swallowed. "Charlotte's gone, Keith. Someone kidnapped her."

xXxXxXxX

After rolling up our blankets and stuffing our scattered belongings back into the bags, our gloomy foursome shuffled down the hallway to the place where I'd found the playing card. We'd decided that the mysterious door would probably be a decent place to start, considering that this hallway dead ended into it. Our situation itself was a dead end. There was nowhere else we could even think to look.

I pulled my hoodie tighter around me and shivered. It was a lot colder than the eighty degree summer days I had been so used to back at camp.

I glanced over at Keith, who was staring straight ahead, his face blank. It was like he was seeing what was in front of him, except not really seeing at all. He was deep inside his own mind.

Telling him about Charlotte was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. He was beside himself. But there was nothing any of us could do to help him feel better. When I'd told him, his initial expression had been one of horror. But then it turned into the expressionless mask that he wore now.

Really, we were all pretty much devastated. Even Brooke had stopped her usual whiny behavior and was looking glum. We knew we'd encounter dangers down here, but I don't think any of us ever expected this to happen.

When we reached the door, Cara pulled her bow from her shoulder and notched an arrow. "Who knows what we're about to encounter," she said solemnly.

I nodded and yanked my knife from its sheath. The others drew their weapons as well.

Cara inhaled and said, "Here it goes," before grabbing the rusting handle and swinging the door open.

"I'll go first," Keith said abruptly in a flat voice. His face was just as blank as it had been before, which was really starting to worry me. He stepped over the threshold, and after a moment he stuck his head back in. "C'mon, it's...well, you'll see."

The three of us walked through the doorway and gazed around, awestruck. We were in a hotel room of all places. It looked extremely familiar to me, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"What the-" Keith began, but suddenly, the door opened. We jumped about a foot. I looked around frantically, but there was nowhere to hide. We were stuck.

A girl who looked the same age as us, about fourteen or fifteen, stepped into the room. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was wearing a gray North Face and jeans. She raised her eyebrows at us, waiting for an explanation.

"We, uh..." Cara stammered.

The girl shook her head. She wasn't smiling, but her hazel eyes looked amused. "Weapons? Really? I don't think any monsters are going to be killing you in a hotel room."

My eyes widened.

"Monsters? Who said anything about monsters?" Brooke said lamely. She clearly needed some lessons on the art of lying.

Random girl nodded, obviously not fooled by Brooke's transparent reply. "Those are celestial bronze weapons. Add that to the fact that you look like you need a shower and some sleep, and it's not hard to guess. You're demigods."

"How do you even know that?" Cara asked, shocked.

The girl snorted. "Because I'm a demigod too, obviously. Catherine, daughter of Hera, at your service."

**There ya go. Don't worry, I'll try and have another chapter up sometime this weekend. Love you all!**


	10. Author's Note

**Woah! It's me again!**

**I know, I know. It's been quite a long time. I probably have some explaining to do.**

**So, I apologize for not updating in forever. I'm terrible. I know.**

**I mean, it isn't like I haven't been writing. I totally have. I just haven't continued these stories or published anything...**

**But I'm planning on updating pretty soon. I want to pick up my PJO story again. I found the beginning of the next chapter saved in my email drafts folder (logical, right?) earlier today, and I guess one could say I was inspired to come back to this.**

**For now, the Doctor Who story will remain on hiatus. But I shall certainly let you know when I plan on getting back to it. I'll also let you know when I plan on starting a new story, which I'm thinking about doing.**

**So, to make a long apology short (too late), check back for updates soon, and I love you guys! :)**

**~storiesfortheeasilyamused**


	11. Chapter 8

**Finally! I'm back!**

**I know. It took forever. I apologize for being so annoying. An update is definitely long overdue.**

**So, I feel like I should clue you guys in. Some of these characters were largely based off of people in the actual world. They aren't exactly the same, but were initially inspired by people I know. It got a little weird because obviously things change in real life, and perceptions change. But I think I've deviated from the real people enough that they're now strictly characters, which makes writing it a lot easier for me.**

**Now, if you're still with me... I'll get to the story!**

**Dedicated to Susan, whomever you may be, for leaving me that awesome review and reminding me to get off my butt and continue with this story:)**

Cara snorted. "Daughter of Hera. Sureee."

Catherine smirked. "You think I haven't gotten that before? I'm the child no one thought would ever exist and everybody wants to kill."

I laughed. I liked this girl.

"Where are we? And what are you doing here?" Brooke asked, ignoring any sort of friendly small talk. One might think that she simply was eager to find her dear friend Charlotte, but don't be fooled. She'd run out of mascara yesterday and thrown a huge tantrum about it. I knew she was just rushing to get us out of there so she could hit the nearest Walgreens for her beauty products.

Since we were traveling with Keith, I guess it was slightly understandable. Not that I'd be coating my face in CoverGirl any time soon. Keith had seen me at my worst. If he didn't know what I looked like by now, there was something wrong. Makeup wasn't going to change how he saw me.

And even if it would, no way in hell was I wearing makeup. Especially not to impress a guy.

"You're in Bar Harbor, Maine," she told us.

I groaned. "Facepalm," I declared.

"What is it?" Cara asked.

"I came here on vacation with my family a couple years ago." No wonder I had recognized the hotel room.

Catherine perked up. "Cool! Maine is pretty great. We're famous for our lobster industry. You know, one time-"

Keith cut her off. "Look, not to be rude, but we really need to go. My sister is missing."

Catherine's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, I just like to tell people that for fun."

I elbowed him in the side, but Catherine didn't even seem fazed. "I do that too. My favorite thing to do is run up to strangers and say 'My mom was murdered!' That gets quite a reaction out of them."

Keith's eyes widened slightly. He looked like someone had hit him. I did my best to conceal a smirk. It was about time he met someone who could put him and his large ego in their proper place.

Brooke, intelligent human being that she is, frowned slightly. "Um, okay..." she said with a forced laugh.

Cara grinned at me, her eyes sparkling. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she mouthed.

I nodded my affirmation and turned back to Catherine. "Wanna join our quest?" I offered.

She nodded. "I have no idea what the cause of the quest is, but yes, I'd love to risk my lives for some strangers who just appeared in my parents' hotel!"

Brooke grabbed my arm and yanked me out of earshot. "We need a meeting! All ORIGINAL members of the quest please step over here," she called out.

Catherine raised an eyebrow.

"This'll just be a sec," Cara reassured her as she and Keith joined us.

"Um, I don't want this girl to join our quest," Brooke said.

"Who cares?" Cara asked. "The rest of us are fine with it. And no one asked your opinion. You shouldn't even be here. You're ruining our best friend bonding adventures with your insolence and overuse of the word like."

"Well, I'm here now. And I don't want her coming with us. She's...weird. Besides, it's bad enough putting up with you and Cora and Charlotte."

Keith frowned, the first real expression I'd seen cross his face since I'd told him Charlotte was gone. "What exactly are you insinuating?"

She smiled coyly. Trying to resist the urge to hit her, I brought the discussion back to the original issue. "GUYS. Let's just vote. All in favor?"

Cara and I raised our hands. I glared at Keith.

"What?" he asked me. "She's kinda rude."

Cara snorted. "Someone can't take a joke."

"My sister was kidnapped, Cara," he said severely, wiping the lighthearted expression off her face instantly. She was speechless. I decided to step in.

"Keith, do you think you're the only one feeling this? She's practically our sister too. We care about her just as much as you. We may not be blood related to her, but that doesn't mean this hasn't shattered our worlds, too."

There was a moment of silence as we stared each other down. The initial expression on his face was anger, but soon it shifted, and his eyes softened.

"You're right," he said. "My behavior has been inexcusable. I'm sorry. Let's just focus on getting her back, okay? We can't just sit here and wait."

Cara and I nodded our agreement. "And another set of hands would be helpful," he added, looking pointedly at Brooke. "I say she comes with us."

Brooke threw her manicured hands up in the air in exasperation. "Fine. Fine! But she isn't exactly normal. I don't like her. So don't, like, expect me to be nice or something."

"Never," I said, patting her arm.

A few feet away, Catherine had somehow found a six-hundred page book about the Civil War, and was reading it avidly. We all drifted back over to her, waiting expectantly.

"One sec," she said, holding her finger up as her eyes darted across the page. After a minute or so, she closed the book with a satisfied sigh.

"So?" she asked me, "did you convince them to put up with me?"

Brooke mumbled, "Unfortunately," and I dug my elbow into her side.

Catherine wasn't fooled. "What? I'm afraid I didn't catch that," she said with a sweet smile.

Brooke smiled back venomously. "Oh, nothing, sweetheart."

Keith shook his head and we exchanged a loaded glance.

I knew we were both thinking the same thing: This was going to be a looooong day.

**There you go, kids! Sorry it's short and crappy... I wrote it awhile ago and forgot to post it. Should be uploading one if not two more chapters later tonight. Love you all! 3**


	12. Chapter 9

**Second chapter of the night! I'm on a roll:)**

**Lots of drama here. This is definitely focused on Cora and Keith's relationship and personalities. Sorry. I promise there is a huge monster-filled battle next chapter. (not exaggerating, either.)**

**3**

Keith's POV:

We were walking on the cracked sidewalk, heading into town. Everyone was starting to get hungry, so it'd been decided that we'd figure out our next move over hamburgers and fries.

I trailed along behind the other four, scuffing my feet and glaring at Cora's long brown ponytail, which was swishing side to side as she walked. I resented her for inviting Catherine to join us. I wasn't sure why- maybe it was because Catherine seemed like a replacement for Char. Maybe it was because, like Cara said, Brooke had already interfered enough with our quest, and the last thing we needed was another person.

Maybe. However, I couldn't lie to myself. I knew the real reason-

A loud burst of laughter from Cara and Catherine sliced through my reverie. I scowled, staring sullenly down at my faded sneakers as they hit the pavement.

Suddenly, I bumped against someone's shoulder. My head shot up, a biting remark already on my tongue, when I met the familiar stormy eyes. As usual, they appeared to be racing a million miles a minute. I looked away quickly, still annoyed with her.

She dug her elbow into my ribs, and I sidestepped, shooting her a cautionary glance. She should really know better than to mess with me when I'm in this state of mind...

Clearly, she didn't. She looked at me for a moment, eyebrows furrowed, analyzing my expression. Her face went from happy and playful to something I couldn't quite read. "Everything okay?" she asked warily.

"Yes," I replied crisply.

"Keith..." she began uncertainly, concern leaking onto her face.

"I'm _fine_," I snapped, my voice much sharper than intended.

Her eyes widened slightly, but she pressed on, not giving in quite that easily. "Are you sure? Because you seem really... Closed off. Is there something you want to-"

"_Cora._ If I say I'm fine, I'm fine. And I am. So just go back to giggling with the other girls and leave me the hell alone."

I could practically see her recoil, and I shoved away the small seed of guilt forming in my gut. A thousand different emotions, most notably hurt, flashed across her face in an instant. Then she simply looked calm, almost dangerously so, and I knew she was finished trying to help me. With Cora, you only got one chance. If you blew it, you could end up being iced out interminably.

"Okay then," she said, her voice low and void of all emotion. She looked at me one last time, her eyes steely and cold, and then walked away.

I sighed, watching her as she joined the others. She began to laugh at a witty comment Catherine had made about her hair. It had one red and one blue streak in it. It was inspired by Julian Casablancas, the lead singer of The Strokes, our favorite band. I heard her explain this to Catherine and then, to an exasperated Cara's dismay, start singing a slightly off-key rendition of Electricityscape.

I tried to ignore my feelings of guilt, which were increasing by the second. I'd been so rude, so hurtful. I'd never been like that towards her.

What was wrong with me? She was supposed to be my best friend.

Her stormy, unforgiving eyes flashed through my mind, and I couldn't help but wonder if the damage I'd inflicted was a lot more irreparable than it seemed.

xXxXxX

Cora's POV:

Our conversation died, and we all fell silent, hearing nothing but our footsteps and the occasional car passing by. Keith continued to trail behind us, not speaking to anyone, pouting like the petulant child that he is. I winced at the nastiness of my own thoughts, but I couldn't help it. My blood practically boiled at the thought of our conversation. At the same time, however, I felt guilt tugging at my conscience insistently.

I shouldn't feel bad. Why should I? I mean, he's the one who was being all icy to me in the first place. He'd seemed fine back in the room. But then, while we'd all been walking, he'd grown quiet, seemingly withdrawing into himself, and at the same time putting up invisible walls between him and the rest of us.

I'd noticed his silence, his uncharacteristic behavior, so I went back to talk to him, thinking maybe he was getting really upset about Charlotte again.

That wasn't it, though.

It was clear to me that something else was going on here, something beneath the surface, something in one of the dark, hidden corners of his slightly convoluted mind.

It frustrated me that I couldn't figure out what was going on. Wasn't he supposed to be my best friend? I should just _know_. I shouldn't have to guess blindly until I stumbled upon the correct answer.

I knew I was completely over-thinking this, and probably being a tad overdramatic, but I couldn't help it. Something just wasn't... Right. And I wanted- no, _needed_- to figure it out.

I remembered the stilted, detached voice he'd used with me and his blank, indifferent expression, which had shifted into red hot anger and then back to chilly calmness in a matter of moments. I grimaced. That conversation could have gone better.

"Are we stopping soon?" a voice asked in a low monotone behind me. Speaking of blonde demon spawn.

"We'll see," I said, looking straight ahead, keeping my voice as even as possible. Two could play this game.

"I'm hungry," the flat voice answered.

"We're ALL hungry," I hissed, anger seeping back into my tone. So much for that.

A pause. "But I'm _really_ hungry. So we should stop soon."

So you should shut your mouth before I shut it for you, I thought. Aloud, I simply said, "This discussion is over."

After our conversation stopped, reality faded back in, and I noticed Cara peering at me curiously from under her curtain of dark hair. I had half a mind to ask her to summon skeleton assassins for me and unleash them on Keith.

Catherine nudged me in the side, and I looked up expectantly. "Do you think," she said slowly, "something happens to us after we die?"

I blinked, a confused half-smile forming on my face. "Uh, what?"

She shrugged. "Just trying to diffuse the tension."

I smiled for real this time, and I heard Cara chuckle. A hint of joy crept its way back into my mood. I exhaled slowly, letting go of all the anxiety and thoughts and goddamn, flipping emotions for a moment.

So what if Keith was mad at me? I had other people I could rely on. Cara, already a close friend, and Catherine, who was on her way to becoming one. (Even if she did refuse to do anything remotely rebellious or risky. I mean, she made me walk an extra twenty feet to use a crosswalk! Seriously?)

And of course there was Charlotte. God, I missed her. She could talk some freaking sense into me right now.

No matter how crazy her brother drove me, I was going to do whatever it took to get her back.


	13. Chapter 10

**Dedicated to Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. (Why? Because today it was announced that Doctor Who returns on August 27! 3.)**

**Enjoy the chapter, guys:)**

When we entered the restaurant, the fumes given off by greasy, fatty food wafted over us. My stomach rumbled. I think we all sighed collectively when we caught a whiff of it. Right now, the promise of food was the only thing on anybody's mind.

We slid into a booth, Cara and Brooke on one side and Keith and Catherine and I smushed together on the other. I had to sit in the middle, meaning extremely close to a certain Son of Poseidon, but at the moment I was too famished to care.

When the waitress came to take our orders, we all got excessively large amounts of food. (What can I say? We'd had a long couple of days.) She raised her eyebrows at us. "Are you sure you can pay for all of this?"

Keith nodded firmly. "Positive."

She pressed on. "Are there any adults here responsible for you?"

I frowned. "Why does it matter? We're fifteen, not five."

Instead of looking offended, she seemed satisfied. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry. Your orders should be here shortly." She gave us an apologetic nod and glided off towards the kitchen, her willowy frame swaying as she walked. However, I noticed her stride was odd. It was almost as if she was limping. Almost.

"That was weird," Cara said, taking a sip of her root beer.

"Yeah," I agreed, turning back around, feeling unsettled. I glanced over at Keith. He didn't say anything, but he looked uncomfortable, eyes darting around warily, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Something was definitely not right.

I shook it off. I'd deal with it after we ate. Without food in me, I was useless, anyway.

Shortly thereafter, the waitress came back with big plates of food. I practically started drooling all over my Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, but I forced myself to eat normal bites instead of cramming the entire meal into my mouth in a matter of seconds, which is what I really wanted to do.

Mmmm. I loved pizza.

xXxXxX

"Ahhh," I sighed, leaning back against the crackly red booth with a sigh. "That was delicious."

"I know, right?" Brooke said with a smile, for once not pissing everyone off just by opening her mouth.

"Agreed," Cara murmured, drinking the last of her root beer and looking positively blissful.

"So, weren't we going to figure out our plan while we were here?" This said by Keith, who looked considerably better than he had earlier. However, it was clear from his taut, stressed face that he was still freaking out about Charlotte. I didn't blame him.

"Oh, right," I said. "So, I was thinking we'd start by-"

Just then, the waitress lumbered (there really was no other way to describe her awkwardly stilted stride) over to the table. "Need anything else?" she asked, flashing us a dazzling smile.

"Uh, no thanks," Keith stuttered. She beamed down at him.

I rolled my eyes, annoyed. "Yes, actually," I said, and she grudgingly turned to look at me. "We need the check, please?"

The waitress smiled, looking completely non-dazzling. In fact, right now, despite her honey blonde hair, wide blue eyes, and generally pretty features, she looked downright sinister. "Check? What will you be needing that for?"

I frowned. "So we can pay for our meals?"

"Oh," she said, still grinning, "you'll be paying for that in a different, completely cash-free way." Suddenly, she started to transform. Her tan skin turned chalky, ashy white. Her eyes became pitch black, like coals, and were positively brimming with hatred. Her pretty, wavy blonde hair started to spark, and suddenly, it was on fire. No... It WAS fire.

When she hissed at us, I noticed that she now had giant fangs. Gulp.

"Are you a vampire?" Keith asked incredulously.

The girl looked positively livid when he said that, her fiery hair deepening to dark red and shooting sparks. "I am NOT a freaking vampire! I absolutely hate it when people call me that! You can't ward me off with garlic or stick a wooden stake in my heart to kill me. That is the stupidest thing I've ever even heard! Oh no," she said, stepping closer and leaning down until she was inches away from Keith's face. "I, my dear, am an empousai. And you, darling, are going to make a delicious snack."

I couldn't see his face, but I felt him tense up, and I knew exactly what he was about to do.

Without any sort of warning, he pulled his arm back and snapped it forward, hitting the girl in the nose with a loud crack.

"Noice," I said, high fiving him.

"Thanks. Now let's get out of here," he gasped, sliding out of the booth. We all followed suit, and I was just turning to go when I heard a yelp behind me.

I turned around. Brooke had been grabbed by two huge Laistrygonian giants. "You really didn't think that was the only one she sent after you little demigods, did you?" one of them said, and they both let out deep, rumbling laughs.

I was speechless. "I, uh-"

They chuckled again. "No matter," the other said. "Because guess what? We're here now."

With that, the restaurant doors opened, and monsters poured in. It would at least be two or three monsters per one of us. At least.

We didn't stand a chance.

"That doesn't mean we can't try," Keith whispered in my ear, practically reading my mind.

I inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself down as I watched them all rushing at us.

And then, I felt completely calm. Powerful. Peaceful.

Dangerous.

"Ready," I whispered.

"Set," Cara muttered.

"GO," we all yelled, bursting into action. With two well-placed kicks, Cara managed to get the giants to drop Brooke, then proceeded to knock them both out with the hilt of her sword.

I wanted to congratulate her and make sure they were both okay, but there was no time. The monsters were nearly upon us. Catherine, Keith, and I stood in a triangle formation, covering all sides, weapons up and at the ready.

"Ready, guys?" I murmured, silently praying we wouldn't die.

"Ready," they answered in unison.

And then they were upon us.

The next few minutes were a blur. I slashed and swung and stabbed like my life depended on it. Probably because it did.

At some point, while I was locked in battle with a manticore, I felt something burning hot scalding my leg. But I was too preoccupied to check, and after a second it went numb. Whether or not that was a good sign, I didn't know. I just kept fighting.

And then, it was over. I'd just stabbed a particularly nasty dracenae in the stomach, and whirled around to receive the next bloodthirsty creature, when I realized there weren't any left. All the monsters had either fled or crumbled to dust at our very capable and well-trained hands.

"That's, like, impossible," I mumbled. But never look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

I looked around for the others. Cara was walking towards me, somewhat unsteadily. When she was just a few feet away from me, she ran smack into a chair and stumbled, nearly falling on her face. I rushed over to her.

"What just happened?" she asked, sounding worried. "And when did the power go out?"

I looked around. The interior of the restaurant was still as bright and cheerful as ever. "Power? What are you talking about?"

"It's pitch black in here. I can't see a thing." At the end of the second sentence, her voice rose, sounding panicked. "You mean, the power isn't out?"

"Cara," I said softly. "Look at me."

Slowly, she lifted her head up. Her brown eyes were wide open, darting around frantically, but completely glazed over.

"Oh my god," I whispered, my legs shaking.

"Cora, am I...blind?"

"Cara, I-"

"Just answer the question."

"I- yes. I think so."

She sunk to her knees.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Can you just leave me alone for now? Please? Go check on everyone else."

I nodded, then remembered she couldn't see it. "Of course," I said hoarsely.

I walked towards the back of the restaurant to find Catherine and Brooke sitting at a table in the corner. Brooke looked pale, a large purple bruise under her eye, but otherwise appeared unscathed. Catherine was wincing, holding a cloth napkin up to her arm, but the moment she saw me she rearranged her features into a cheerful smile.

"Hi!" she said. "I see you survived."

I smiled blandly. "Barely. What's wrong with your arm?"

"Oh, this?" she said, laughing softly. "It's nothing. Just a scratch."

Stupidly, I took her word for it and simply nodded. Something I later learned about Catherine: She downplays everything. Especially injuries. For some weird reason, she thinks it makes her seem egotistical. Personally, I think it just makes her stupid, but there you go.

"Where's Keith?" Brooke asked in that annoying voice of hers.

Oh, crap.

Where WAS Keith?

"I haven't found him yet," I said. "KEEIIIITTTTHHHHHH," I yelled, at a volume that was so high I knew no one would be able to ignore it.

To my utter surprise, I didn't get a response. Nothing. Just the faint sound of a car driving by.

"KEEEIIITTTHHHHH!" I shouted again, more urgently.

I began to walk all around the room, my strides hurried.

"He's not here," I said when I returned to Catherine and Brooke, now beginning to seriously freak out.

"Did you check everywhere?" Catherine asked.

I nodded. "Everywhere. Except..." It clicked. I spun around and sprinted for the kitchen.

I stepped through the doorway and into the large room. The chefs and other staff members had all evacuated when the battle began. There was still a pot of stew simmering on the stovetop and a ready-to-eat pizza sitting on the counter, growing cold.

I began tiptoeing around, the feeling that I wasn't supposed to be there practically suffocating me.

My heart began to race. He wasn't here. As I was about to round the last corner, my last chance of finding him, I almost stopped walking altogether, afraid of what I might discover.

But I put one foot in front of the other, forcing myself to go forward and look.

And sure enough, there he was.

Lying on the cold white tile, his head resting in a small pool of his own blood.


End file.
